What Internal HD for an Icybox enclosure?

[idkfa]

Hey! Sorry if this has been done already, but I could not find exactly what I wanted in the forums.

I am looking into buying an external HD for my iBook, preferably something larger than 120 Gb, maybe even 250 Gb if I can afford it (I am hoping to get this setup for not much more than $250 CAD (approx. 220 US$). Is it really any cheaper to buy an enclosure and install your own internal? And is Icybox the best option?

Also, what brand can you recommmend for the HD? I would not be against ordering online, but I can buy Comstar, Seagate, Lacie, and Western Digital around where I live.

One more thing: What company makes the Icybox, and what is their site?

Thanks for any help guys.

EDIT: I am looking for something that has Firewire (for myself), and USB 2.0 if I ever need to mate my poor future hardrive with a PC.

 

[mkrishnan]

Do you mean this Icy Box:

http://www.raidsonic.de/en/pages/products/external_cases_gal.php?search=35inch

Or this one:

http://www.nanopoint.co.uk/en/pages/products/product_news.php?we_objectID=2604

 

[idkfa]

Maybe the first one? But both sites have some of the same...

I was looking at the ones that have the mesh sides...



EDIT: Probably the IB-351UE or the IB-250UE from raidsonic. Not sure if I should get 2.5" or 3.5" HD though.

 

[mkrishnan]

EDIT: Probably the IB-351UE or the IB-250UE from raidsonic. Not sure if I should get 2.5" or 3.5" HD though.

If you want 120GB - 250GB, then I can answer that question for you: 3.5". There are no 250GB 2.5" drives, AFAIK....And you're going to find squeezing even 100GB in a 2.5" form factor into your budget.

 

[idkfa]

Yeah, I just did some research into hard drives... Thanks!

Do you know of any reliable places to purchase the IB-350UE? The only place I can find is micro.direct.co.uk, but I am not sure if they ship outside the UK (I have sent them an email).


For the HD, at the futureshop location near where I live, there is a Maxtor 250Gb Internal HD on sale for $129.99 CAD, but I have heard bad things about Maxtor. Are they really that bad?

 

[CanadaRAM]

First off, know that LaCie and Comstar will only be selling Seagate, Hitachi, Maxtor or Western Digital drives within their packaging, so there is little reason to go with them unless they have a software bundle or a special price. Watch out for the one year warranty though.

Make sure the drive you are looking at has the full manufacturer's warranty. You can check the serial number online at the major drive manufacturers. Seagates should be 5 years, Maxtor Hitachi and WD 3 years, Except the Maxtor MaxLine series 5 years.

Drives that are OEMs or 'Pulls' or used (or to use Futureshops favorite euphamism, "Factory Recertified") will have zero to one year warranty. Avoid any drive that says "Warranty from {reseller name}" or "Warranty from importer" - that means that the manufacturer will not support the drive at all.

There's nothing particularly wrong with Maxtors. You will find all manufacturers have trouble-spots in their products, and when a customer gets a couple of failures in a row, then they become rabid anti-brand campaigners based on a small sample size. We have seen failures of all brands, which is to be expected.

Double check that the drive is an IDE / Ultra ATA drive if thats what your case requires. Don't buy a SATA by mistake.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

 

[Blue Velvet]

...Do you know of any reliable places to purchase the IB-350UE?

In the last two months, I've purchased three IcyBox enclosures (1 for home, 2 for work) from www.overclock.co.uk

All the drives that went into them were Seagate Barracudas.

They say in their terms and conditions that they don't charge VAT on certain destinations outside the UK so they might also be a possibility.

 

[idkfa]

Thanks!!

One more question. A local futureshop outlet has Maxtor 160 Gb internals on sale for $99.99 CAD. It says the interface is PATA... What does this mean, and will it still work with an Icybox?

Sorry about all of these questions...

 

[mkrishnan]

One more question. A local futureshop outlet has Maxtor 160 Gb internals on sale for $99.99 CAD. It says the interface is PATA... What does this mean, and will it still work with an Icybox?

ATA is a standard under which most hard drives fall. There are two major variants -- parallel ATA, or PATA or just ATA (or sometimes also just referred to as IDE); and serial ATA, or SATA. Serial ATA is the standard that is slowly taking over, and is faster. My understanding is that SATA enclosures are, in principle, backwards compatible with PATA hardware, but it might not be easy, and you might need some converters and do-dads.

So, I would suggest that you can either get an Icy Box that says it is for "ATA" or "IDE" drives, but does not say SATA, or you should switch to a SATA drive....

This should be an example of an Icy enclosure that can accommodate a 3.5" PATA drive:

http://www.overclock.co.uk/product.php?productid=19064&view=rel